Newsmaker: A quick guide to Celebrate Yonge

Downtown Yonge Street is a place without a unifying theme. Chain retail bumps up against small, lived-in eateries and stores, while a smattering of strip clubs and sex shops hearken back to 35 years ago, when the area was Toronto’s red-light district. Starting this weekend, the eclectic neighbourhood will attempt to rally itself behind a common cause: Celebrate Yonge, a month-long, BIA-led festival that will widen the street’s pedestrian zones between Gerrard and Queen by temporarily eliminating two lanes of auto traffic. Here are some things to see and do.

Play Board Games
The area between Walton and Elm Streets, just south of Gerrard, will be transformed into “The Funway,” a carnival-like entertainment area. Jumbo-sized chess and Connect Four sets will be available. Also, Hairy Tarantula, a second-storey comics and games shop at 354 Yonge St., will be bringing some of its games out for pedestrians to play for free. (All board games at the shop will be 30% off for the duration of the festival.) “This will give us an opportunity to meet people on the street level,” says owner Leon Emmett says. “People who don’t know where we are now will be able to find us and maybe become our customers.”

Use Free WiFi in a Temporary Urban Park
Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds is converting some of the road space just south of Shuter Street into an urban park, using more than 200,000 pounds of boulders, logs, sand, mulch and brick hauled in especially for the purpose. The nearby ING Direct Café, which helped sponsor the installation, provides free WiFi to customers, which should stretch to cover the park. A 30-seat amphitheatre made of logs will provide seating for laptop-toting workers, and there will also be periodic programming throughout the festival.

Drink Where You’re Not Supposed To
Celebrate Yonge will feature five temporary licensed patios, meaning attendees will be able drink — literally — on the street. These are the locations: Elephant and Castle (378 Yonge St.), The Pickle Barrel (312 Yonge St.), The Three Brewers (275 Yonge St.), Hard Rock Café (279 Yonge St.) and Firkin on Yonge (207 Yonge St.). The Delta Chelsea’s permanent Market Garden patio (33 Gerrard St. W.) will also be part of the festivities. Nicole Exner, general manager of Elephant and Castle, is hoping for a good month. “I find that a lot of times people don’t even know we’re here,” she said.